From Okwe Obi, Abuja
The Vice President, Kashim Shettima, has said the country would need about $10 billion yearly to achieve energy transition by 2060, which amounts to $360 billion.
Shettima stated this on Friday, at an energy transition symposium organised by the Development Agenda Magazine, in Abuja.
He said before then, the country must maximise petroleum resources in the short term to provide the base-load energy that would turbocharge the economy.
Represented by the Special Adviser to the President on Power and Infrastructure, Sadiq Wanka, he said: “But full implementation of the Nigeria Energy Transition would not be easy. It requires concerted effort locally and international collaboration to source financing and to prepare the Nigerian workforce for a Net-Zero economy and to have a truly just energy transition.
“If we take the issue of financing alone, funding the energy transition requires investments of over $10 billion per year up to 2060.
“With 45 per cent of Nigerians lacking access to electricity, and GDP per capita that is half that in Egypt and a third of that in South Africa, the urgency of improving the economic condition of Nigerians is clear, but there are critical environmental/considerations which if not adequately managed would actually hamper our ability to change the lives of millions of our people for the better.
“Majority of this money would necessarily come from the private sector including through initiatives to access high-integrity carbon markets.
“But we are up to the challenge. The administration of President Ahmed Tinubu is willing to take the difficult decisions and the rich resource base and depth of human capital in our dear country will ensure our success,” the VP said.
The Vice President also, noted that the two-pronged strategy to pursue renewables alongside oil and gas investments has yielded notable results that support the overall energy transition, like the “Climate Change Act signed in 2021 seeks to mainstream climate action into national plans and programmes.